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Halt of a Hunting Party
Philips WouwermanEarly 1660s
Dulwich Picture Gallery
London, United Kingdom
This, the grandest of Wouwerman’s works at Dulwich, probably dates from the early 1660s. It demonstrates his mature, elegant style: an airy vista inhabited by a party of aristocrats resting from the hunt.
The scene is dominated by a fine white horse, a signature motif for Wouwerman, who was famous for his horses. There is a telling comparison within the narrative of the picture: the aristocrat doffing his hat while offering an orange to his lady is balanced on the right by a beggar holding out his hat in supplication for alms.
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Details
- Title: Halt of a Hunting Party
- Creator Lifespan: 1619 - 1668
- Date: Early 1660s
- Physical Dimensions: w829 x h556 cm
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil
- null: F. Duparc suggests a date in the early 1660s (letter on file, 1997).Dejardin 2008: "DPG78 was once in the celebrated collection of the Duc d'Orleans before passing, as Mme Anne Leclair has pointed out (DPG archive, letter on file, 31 Mar. 2004), into that of the Marquis de Voyer d'Argenson, where it was inventoried ca. 1750. Fredericksen has noted that DPG78 certainly appears in London at the 1806 sale of the collection of George Craufurd (Crawford), a Scottish merchant whose family had long been resident in Rotterdam and whose brother James was British consul-general in that city. The picture was purchased, along with DPG82 (Du Jardin's A Smith Shoeing an Ox), by 'North' and next appears in the 1813 inventory of Bourgeois' collection. Interestingly, Bourgeois was friends with the Crawford family (London, British Library, correspondence), and a frequent visitor to their home and so must have known both pictures: it seems likely that North was acting as his agent."Engraving in J. Moyreau, Oeuvrs de P.W…, Paris, 1737-62, no. 38.A letter in file dated 27 Aug 1995 from Wayne Franits refers to the inclusion of DPG78 in an article by him - not in file. [CHECK]A letter in the file for DPG82 from Burton Fredericksen dated 9 Jan. 1990 suggests this picture was bt by North, who also purchased DPG82 in the same sale. Murray does not substantiate his assertion that Desenfans bt the painting at the Nijman sale in 1797 and Fredericksen states he has looked at two annotated copies of the sale and Van Zanten (or Van Santen) is given as the buyer.Question provenance: John Davenport; his sale, London, Christies, 21 Feb. 1801, lot 88 ('Wouvermans-Going out Hawking, a very capital and elegant picture, a rich scene, from the Orleans Collection'). Bt Bourgeois for £168.0. Present Location: New York, NY, USA. Lowenthal collection.
- Work Nationality: Dutch
- Support: Canvas
- Provenance: Paris, Louis-Philippe, Duc d' Orléans, by 1739; Isaak Hoogenbergh coll., 1743; Amsterdam, Hoogenbergh sale (Verkolje...v.d. Land), 10 Apr. 1743, lot 10; Jan Danser Nijman, 1797; Amsterdam, Nijman sale (v.d. Schley...Roos), 16 Aug. 1797, lot 303. Bt Van Zanten (or Van Santen), 1800 g.; Rotterdam, George Craufurd, to 1806; London, Christie's, Crawford sale, 26 Apr. 1806, lot 27 ('Halt of a Party Hawking, Figures descending to the right, and others refreshing themselves by the Side of a Streamlet; with a View of a beautiful distant Country -- a chef d'OEuvre. -- The Figures designed with Elegance, the Animals very spirited, and the Whole painted with rich Effect in his fine enamelled Style'). Bt North for £362.5 [a handwritten note in the RKD copy of the catalogue notes 'Genl Sir Js Erskine has one of the same subject']; London, Sir Francis Bourgeois, 1807-1811; Bourgeois Bequest, 1811.
- Inscriptions: Signed, bottom right: 'PHILS . W' (PHILS in monogram)
- Further Information: Wouwerman uses colour to focus our eyes on the resting couple on the left - white horse, red cloak, green dress, yellow jacket, orange dog. Gesture plays its part too, and Wouwerman has orchestrated a genteel ballet of movement and counter-movement across the frieze of figures. The scene is bracketed by a repeated gesture - the doffing of a hat. In one case, it signifies mere manners, part of the exaggerated fluff of courtship; in the other grim reality - an old beggar asks for alms.
- Artist: Wouwerman, Philips
- Acquisition Method: Bourgeois, Sir Peter Francis (Bequest, 1811)
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